Tag: Cheddah

The Ranch – Where you need to prepare for the unexpected!!

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8 Ruckers were out marching around when 16 more PAX arrived at the cold Ranch. YHC was expecting low numbers since the temp was 20-22, but I was thrilled to see the men circling and getting ready for the unexpected.

The Thang:

Mosey to entrance
COP

SSHs-20
CCDs-18
Seal Jacks-20
Wind Mills-15
Imperial Walkers-20

Mosey to baseball field……it was creepy dark!!

3 rounds of Crawl, Walk Run

Home to 1st-bear crawls
1st to 2nd-lunge walk
2nd to home-Run

Mosey to bridge

Two lines and Partner is next to you
Wheel barrow little baby Jesus up steps alternating when needed

Indian Run to Football field

Partner Carry to playground

With Partner: 1 does exercise/1 runs lap
Pull ups
Derkins
Swing Crunches
Dips

Burpee Indian Run back to COT

IT was a fun filled day at The Ranch and the PAX worked hard and pushed each other. Message was about being prepared and no matter if its preparing for breakfast or for retirement, as a leader we need to be ready for the expected. Today my Director resigned from our team and company. We don’t know who our leader will be or what our organization will look like, but as leader of my work and home I need to look in the mirror and say, Get After It! There is no waiting to see where the chips fall,  but to get out in front and lead. Reflect on all things in your life and address those things that you need to get prepared for……finances, stronger marriage, tough talks with the kids and death. Don’t leave these for someone else to take care of.

Thanks Jiffy for the lead…..humbled and honored!!

Cake Boss out!

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Intentional

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Today’s brisk temperature did not stop the Pax from posting at The Coop. We had 3 pre-ruckers that joined us for a high impact workout. All 15 of us pushed each other to get better.  What an amazing morning with my F3 brothers!

The Thang:

Mosey to the parking lot in front of the school

COP: SSH (30x), IW (20x), WM (15x), Sumo Squats (15x), MC (15x), Moroccan Night Clubs (15x)

Mosey to the pull up bars: Jacobs Ladder with burpees at the bottom, pull ups at the top 9x

Mosey to FMES:Balls to the wall, People’s Chair 4x

Moleskin:  

High impact men, you must be intentional with your time. Our time on this planet is limited and life moves at very a fast pace. Respond to the Great Commission by intentionally investing time to build God’s kingdom. Do not let the ways of the world distract you from His calling. Be intentional with your family by studying and serving them. Identify and address the needs of your wife and children.

“Impact is never about knowing all the steps ahead, but about taking one intentional step after the other.” ― Bidemi Mark-Mordi

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Unexpected

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AO covered (Circles = COP)
green mark is shovel flag, COT, and mary location

QIC: Band Camp

After thinking for a while about preparedness, expectations, disappointment, last minute changes and our reactions, YHC tried to devise a workout that would be in the mold of an F3 bootcamp format but would also disrupt expectations in uncomfortable ways to give PAX as change to work on their response. What follows is my attempt to put this (again unconventionally) into a BackBlast. The exercises are listed out of order and with no set number of reps. My general plan was to create unexpected changes and I chose exercises and reps based on what I felt would be unexpected in the moment.

11 PAX gathered in the cold December gloom for my lengthy version of the disclaimer and set off. The strategy (unbeknownst to the PAX) was for a faster than standard “mosey” and short (ADD-esque?) unpredictable COPs (see map above). Occasionally we’d just plank up and then wait for half a second before running off again. Chicken Hawk, a wise PAX, sniffed out my plan after the first “plank and mosey.” When we arrived at the second circle and YHC planked up, Chicken Hawk planked up with one hand on my ankle to prevent my quick mosey. YHC was forced to call for some plank jacks and mountain climbers and we were off again!

Among the exercises we did mostly in cadence (but in no particular order) were:

Merkins
Mtn Cimbers
Plank Jacks
Burpees
Burpees + bomb jacks
Windmill
Downdog-->Honeymooner
Mike Tysons-->Bear Crawl
Dips
Step ups
Dan Taylor (1:4 squat/lunges) sequence (YHC may or may not have demonstrated a weakness of multiplication around the numbers 24-28)
Alternating Shoulder Taps
Non-alternating shoulder taps
People's Chair (cold slick surface, one PAX walked their 6 down the wall...)
BTTW
BTTW merkin
Peter Parker
Pigeon Lunges
Cossack stretch (can easily be mispronounced...)
Flutters
LBCs straight up to 0600

NMM:

The Advent season (advent is Latin for “coming”) is about preparing and anticipating the coming of Christ. How do the expectations of a F3 workout or any situations affect our responses when what happens does not align with what we anticipated?

Jesus, the Messiah, came as a tiny baby in a dirty stable born in a poor town to an unassuming carpenter who had contemplated leaving his finacé quietly due to the unexpected pregnancy. Certainly not the expected “savior” the Jewish people were waiting for to liberate them from Roman occupation. See also CakeBoss’ tweet How did their expectations of a savior change their response to the Messiah’s message….?

Every morning I like to think of an F3 post as a chance to be more prepared for the unexpected. Then Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, has a nonsensical quote about Iraq. But after further inspection it doesn’t sound as nonsensical.

as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.

Donald Rumsfeld 2/12/2002

It is my hope that F3 helps PAX train and prepare for the known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. If you’re interested, composer Phil Kline set this Rumsfeld quote in an art song. Enjoy and SYITG!

Prayers for Unity Presbyterian as they recover from the recent fire.

Announcements: convergence on 12/24 at Palisades

–Band Camp dismissed

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The Ruck Taper That Wasn’t…Here at the Fire Ant

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Oh, you didn’t tote a ruck and join us at the Fire Ant this morning? But, you know how to read. Lucky you; you’ll feel as if you joined us in this perfect gloom. Well, aside from smoked shoulders, jail-breaks, curls, squats, lunges, weird-shaped circles, flutters and joyful times of getting yelled at. That’s basically the entire Weinke right there.

But for you more literary types, I’ll humor you just this time. 17 of The Fort’s finest Ruckers converged on the now guaranteed-to-please Fire Ant and we even had a non-typical out there which is always welcome. If you’re not a Rucker yet you’re still reading this, I owe you one. In addition, I highly encourage you reach out to Spiderman or DaVinci (Ruck Q’s) and see if they can wrangle an extra ruck for you to join us out there one morning. It’s a great time of fellowship and you’ll even learn a little more about your limits. Here’s a hint, you can take more than you think.

So the disclaimer was disclaimed, we fell in 2×2 and took it over to circle up around the flags. This next part was a bit of a mind game. While routine is something we all enjoy and can keep ourselves in check with, when it comes to a workout, it doesn’t always have the same benefit. We had fit, strong PAX out there this morning so I tried something slightly different and broke our typical 5min routine. We started off with 31 squats (with ruck) then 32-4ct flutters with ruck press.

Fall back in line for a 20yd 2×2 to our next stop. Rucks overhead 2×2 to the end of the drop-off lane…yup, that sucked too. Make a hard right, rucks on and lunge walk 1/2 way to the back. About face and reverse lunge walk the rest of the way to the back lane. Rucks overhead and 2×2 about 40yds down the back lane. Drop the rucks for an all-out jail break to the end of the lane (nearly 60yds). Catch your breath and jail break back to your ruck. Guess what was next…rucks overhead 2×2 back to the start of the lane.

5 Man-Makers & 10 Hand-Release Merkins

2×2 over to the bottom of the tiered stadium hill

Bear crawls up the hill in between the levels.

Level 1: 20 full Mak Tar Jai’s (yup, suck-fest)

Level 2: 20 Peter Parkers

Level 3: 20 Parker Peters

What goes up, must come down. We’ll now reverse bear crawl in between the levels.

Level 3: 20 Upright rows

Level 2: 20 Curls

Level 1: 20 Bent over rows

Rucks on 2×2 back to the drop-off lane.

Squats around the world. In a circle, PAX hold the Al Gore and each man does 1 full squat  going around the circle. We did 7 total rounds.

Same idea but this time with a shoulder press. Hold ruck up overhead and do 1 full press when it’s your turn. We did 7 total rounds.

Same idea now with ruck curls. Guess how many rounds we did…7.

3-tier suicides with 5 ruck thrusters each time you come back to the start.

A high number of SEAL-team situps with awkwardly positioned rucks.

And that was it.

So much for the taper…

Announcements: Read the newsletter, keep collecting band-aids and support the Paradise Reading Center Monday/Wednesday 4pm.

Prayers: Double-Down in Louisville, PAX doing the GRT in Wilmington this weekend, PAX running Kiawah this weekend. Family relationships this Holiday season. It’s not always easy but help us to stay focused on opportunities to share grace and love. Sick kids, sick M’s, our teachers and education leaders, and several others I’m missing.

Until next time.

Maximus

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Constantly Moving Through The Swamp

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It is always a pleasure to get the “call” to the lead the PAX  and this opportunity didn’t disappoint.  The Swamp is my “home” Friday AO so I was well aware of all the nooks and crannies it had to offer.

After a separating ourselves from the droves of men with backpacks (12 of them) I gave the usual disclaimer explaining that these men were there at their own risk and that the only thing I could promise is that they would return “stronger” than they set out.  I also explained that we would be “moving” the entire time so ‘buckle up’ and enjoy the tour.

Quick 3/4 mile mosey around Home Depot to the Khol’s parking lot.  Along the way we did some active stretching including butt kickers and high knees.  Warm up included several exercises to warm the muscles up such as:

  • Windmill
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Potato Pickers
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Right/Left leg over opposite leg with body twist (on our 6)
  • Downward Dog
  • Honeymooner
  • Side Straddle Hops

Quick mosey 100 yards —- 50 Slow Low Squats

Bear Crawl 50 yards

25 yard mosey

Merkins:

  • 30 Regular
  • 20 Wide Arm
  • 15 Ranger
  • 10 Diamond

Crawl Bear 50 yards

Mosey to Verizon: 50 Moroccan Night Club (Jedi wasn’t amused)

Mosey to “alley” behind Home Depot:

Wall sits while one PAX goes out and does 10 Berpees

Lunge Walking (down alleyway)

  • Varying steps (3-10) then exercise:
  • Merkins
  • Squat Jumps
  • Burpees
  • 10 Squat Jumps (to cap it off)

Mosey toward COT

Halfway stop for 10 more Burpees

Almost there……but first one last Suicide to really gas ourselves.

We finished strong and as I promised every man came back to COT stronger than he had left.  We reconnected with our backpack brothers and lifted some prayers and praises up.  In total 19 men got better (12 Ruckers and 7 Bootcampers)

Bones

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Honoring a Hero at the Badger Den: The SCHMALLS

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11 posted this AM to honor Marine Gunnery Sgt. Justin E. Schmalstieg whom, as assigned to the 1st Explosive Ordinance Disposal Company, 7th Engineer Support Battallion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, 1 Marine Expeditionary Force gave his life clearing the way for his teammates.

The workout started with a brief 200m jogging disclaimer consisting of some toy soldiers and lunge walks. We then brought it back to the launch point for warm ups including hand-release merkins and Moroccan Night Clubs. And…that was it. We then read the bio of Gunnery Sgt Schmalstieg and walked through the workout today, coined the Schmalls.

800m run (on the track)

Then 2 rounds of the following:

50 Burpees (100 total)

40 Pull-Ups (80 total)

30 Single Leg Squats each leg (60 total each leg)

20 KB swings (40 total): We used cinder blocks

10 Handstand Push Ups (20 total)

Then another 800m run (on the track)

We had a few minutes left so we didn’t let that go to waste:

Staggered merkins in cadence on the cinderblocks

LBC’s with cinder blocks at full extension

Squats with cinder blocks stretch out overhead

Curls

Lastly, American Hammers without the cinder blocks.

The Hero Book has been pasted to Love Handle as he was the one man today who hasn’t Q’d the Honey Badger. If you are a man that hasn’t yet posted to the Honey Badger, consider this your encouragement. Sure, there is some cocky smack talked dished out in advance. It’s all to push each other to be just a little better than yesterday. When you complete one of this workouts, you feel both educated and pushed…really pushed. The recognition of a fallen HERO helps to put your present suck into perspective. And when you transition from 50 burpees to pull-ups and hand-stand push-ups for the second time, perspective helps.

After all, as the Navy SEALs say…The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday.

Maximus.

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700 Club

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14 Strong Men showed up at The Fire Ant for some Ruck Training.

In Preparation for next week’s GoRuck event in Wilmington – we completed a mission simulation with a TL (Team Lead) and ATL (Assistant Team Lead)

Dirty Harry and Wegmans  voluntold the roles as they are training for their first GoRuck events.

The mission was simple, but tough. Get the group (and several coupons) to a starting point, complete the 700 club workout, and get back in time for COT.

The Thang (700 Club):

100 reps each of seven exercises:

Hand Release Merkins

Squats

Overhead Press

Curls

Ruck Swings

Big Boys Sit Ups

Flutters (with Ruck Press)

This would require a pace of approximately one rep every three seconds with no time for rest.

The group completed the mission. With a reward of carrying Bonsai and Husky back in addition to the coupons.

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Honoring Three The Honey Badger Way

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Monday’s are great days for The Fort. There are a lot of great ways to start off your work week. The Honey Badger is an exception. I love what is being done there in honoring a fallen hero. If you have never been, please put it on your to-do list, get out there, and get after it.

12 men came out to hit Monday morning with all they got. As Q I was a bit anxious to try and fit in three hero workouts to honor three men who gave it all they had. After a brief disclaimer, no FNGs, then off we went. A quick mosey around most of the student parking lot with some side shuffles and butt kickers mixed in. Then back to the starting point for COP:

  • SSH x 20
  • WM x 20
  • IW x 20
  • MNC x 20

Then off to the area along the road near the USMC ROTC building’s beloved pullup bars where YHC had some cinderblocks waiting. Each men grabbed 2 and we started the first workout:

#1 the “Kevin”
In honor of PFC Kevin Ebbert, US Navy, died November 24, 2012

3 rounds of the following:
* 32 deadlifts >> Substituted 32 double count flutter w cindy press
* 32 hanging hip touches (or 32 seconds of knee up hanging)
* Running farmers carry w 2 cindies ~75yd and back
>> Afterwards during a brief rest I noted to the PAX that Kevin died only days after Thanksgiving. Don’t take anything for granted for we never know when our last day will be. Be Thankful for the blessings we have, including time.

PAX were nice enough to load the cindies back in my truck. Then mosey off to the football field, line up near the goal line for the next workout:

#2 the “Brenton”
In honor of Officer Timothy Brenton, Seattle PD (former US Army), died October 3, 2009

5 rounds of the following:
* 100ft bear crawl >> to the 40yd line ended up being 120ft
* 100ft standing broad jump return to starting point
* Every 5 jumps do 3 burpees
>> The Brenton is a popular Badger workout….to some. A brief discussion on not taking life for granted again. Brenton survived through a lot in the military, only to be gunned down in a surprise attack while sitting in his patrol car.

No change in locale for the trifecta. The football field and track is a wonderful asset to the Badger Den. We had some time left to crank out as much as possible of the third planned workout:

#3 the “Loredo”
In honor of SSgt Edwardo Loredo, US Army, died June 24, 2010

6 rounds of the following:
* 24 LSS
* 24 merkins
* 24 walking lunges
* Run 400m (one lap)

Man did everyone crank out the work!! Got after it good!!

We got back right at 6 for the COT, Announcements, P&P.

  • Read The Fort newsletter. Get involved.
  • SIGN UP FOR THE FORT CHRISTMAS PARTY!! It is THE place to BE!! Be there!
  • Convergence on Thanksgiving Thursday. Check Twittersphere for info.
  • CAH Guidance this weekend, Saturday 11/24, 4pm start. Rock Hill’s Roxanne on Q. Be there for the kids who do not have family to spend the holiday with.
  • Kids print Bandaids for Cornerstone’s initiative
  • Please donate to my Disney Marathon fundraiser for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
  • Praises for Straight Up’s and NASA’s 2.0’s running their first 5K and Spartan events.
  • Prayers for Punch List’s M who is VERY pregnant and getting close to due date.
  • Prayers for Lutefisk losing his Mom.
  • Prayers for injured PAX
  • Prayers unsaid
    >> My apologies if I missed others that were mentioned.

Not much said during the workout other than reminding the PAX that this is the week of the Thanksgiving holiday. Be Thankful for all the blessings we have been bestowed with by Him. Be the family that others may not be able to be with (such as the kids at CAH Guidance). Make it a memorable weekend, but remember those who are no longer with us or those who are less fortunate.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead,
– NASA

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BEYOND Badger – Passivity

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Maximus offered me the opportunity to lead a BEYOND workout, and it only felt right to do it at The Badger… He told me to pick the topic and I got to work. I wanted to take it a step further since it was a BEYOND Badger… so instead of one long grueling workout, I chose a few. Makes sense, right?

My topic was Passive Leadership. Something I struggle with constantly. No matter how “great” I feel I am doing as a leader, I tend to slow down and mentally rest. I let my life lead itself and when I’m not behind the steering wheel, the wheels fall off.

Apathy/Indifference – feeling indifferent or lacking emotion
Passivity – accepting what happens without active response or resistance

Poor leadership has many faces… but passivity in my opinion is a main root of the issue.

COP (All Workouts Derived from the Exicon!)
11 of each for (Observed) Veteran’s Day
SSH
Sun Gods (Arm Circles)
Moroccan Night Clubs
Windmill
Hairy Rockettes (Reverse Windmill, Toes reach up to hands)
Tappy Taps
Carolina Dry Docks
Merkins
Peter Parkers
Calf Raises
Low Slow Squat

Al Gore’s in a circle while I talked.

Ephesians 5:25 – Husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church.

I made a vow at the time I proposed to my wife that I wouldn’t be the typical American male who is distant from his family and doesn’t love or support them if their needs aren’t being met. I was on fire at that point in my life, leading and loving like God designed me to do. I felt unstoppable at accomplishing a love that no man had ever felt. Then I started to get in the way…

The great part about the Honey Badger is we get to honor men who didn’t lead passively.

We finished the warm up and moseyed over to the badger den’s infamous pull up bars.

Ryan – Firefighter Hero WOD
5 Rds
7 Muscle UPS or Pull UPS/DIPS
21 Burpees

LBC’s while we waited for the group to finish. Gotta keep adding to the November count!

Drop down to Al Gore to keep the conversation going.

Somewhere along the way… I lost sight of my vow and decided that I wanted to pursue my own fulfillment over my wife’s. It ended up as you’d imagine. We fell away from each other while trying to conceive. I couldn’t think about her pain during the two years we tried, all I could think about was myself and how ready or not ready I was. We reached a point of pursuing fertility treatment – and by we I mean she decided and I didn’t really give any input. We were at the decision point to take hormone shots. Without consulting her or even thinking of her feelings, I backed out and decided for us to let it happen naturally. Needless to say I broke a lot of trust and I reaped the fruit of passive leadership. It was a hard fought battle to regain the trust I broke, but we made it back. All because I led apathetically.

Can you imagine how giving our all, all the time could have an impact? Would you rather be consistently good or inconsistently great?

Mosey to the track to take part in hero workout number two.

Griff 
2 Rds
800 m run forward
400 m run backward

Pick up the six and run with him to the end. The guys planked while we did so.

We ran short so couldn’t do our third hero WOD, but I’m pretty sure everybody was okay with that. We moseyed back to COT for my message to come to a close.

Drop into Al Gore once more to finish the conversation.

I took the difficult time and raw relationship to heart, and was really helped by God and a few good men at my Church in MD. We conceived our daughter and that really helped bring us out of the pit. I vowed not to let our family growth become a wedge and would do my best to lead my wife through whatever comes next. That doesn’t mean I’ve been without issue. Things are constantly changing, and I have to remain in the lead for my wife and children’s sake. If I fail, their chances of failing increase exponentially. I need to keep my head up and lead in a way that will bear the right fruit for all.

Ephesians 5:33a – However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself

A few thoughts…
My life and how fast things change… my daughter will be four in five days. How did that happen? How did I blink and she get this old? Where did I fail? Where did I succeed? How does apathy/passivity cause you to miss things?

A lot of the things that take my focus away have nothing to do with my family. Work, friends, social media, keeping up with sports, golf, hobbies, drinking beer, music, news and politics. Some things take my family time away that are very productive. Church, volunteering at church, F3, working out. Some may have a positive impact on my family life but most of the time take away from my time with my family.

What’s more important?

End with LBCs x 16 IC until the clock struck 6:00.

19 PAX showed up. Welcome FNG BACONATOR!

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5

How heavy is a Bonsai tree?

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As I was preparing for the Q at Fire Ant I was excited and had everything planned out. However apparently the one thing I didn’t plan for was my inability to set the alarm for the correct time. I woke up at 4:55 and pretty much ran out of the house with all my gear in my hands. I was able to get to the AO with a few minutes to spare, but my head wasn’t in it. It didn’t take long for the Pax to notice as I completely forgot to count in cadence for the first exercise. After a couple exercises I was able to get my head right and lead. Apologize to the Pax for my mistake. Thanks for bearing with me as I proceeded to Q. In the end I believe it was a good workout, but definitely started out rocky.

We started the workout off with a homemade litter/gurney/stretcher (whatever you want to call it). However thanks to Spider Man I decided to place 230 lbs (my weight) of sandbags on this litter because he mentioned he was able to hold all the weight of a Bonsai in one hand. 4 Pax jumped on the litter while the rest of the Pax grabbed the cinder blocks and moved around toward the back of the school.

Dropped gear and began the warmup

Warmup:
Windmill – helps when you count in cadence so the Pax know how fast to go
Merkins
LBCs – after getting poked by the Pax I figured I would make sure they rolled on the wet ground
Superman

The Thang:
Pax counted off in 4’s since we didn’t have enough blocks for everyone. Each group took an exercise and work through all 4.

Round 1:
5 man makers
10 merkins
Farmer Carry down stairs and back up
20 LBCs

Bear crawl 40 yds
Crawl bear 40 yds

Pick up litter and cinderblocks and move

Round 2:
5 man makers
10 V-ups
15 Curls
20 Shoulder pulls

Pick up gear and move (Rotate as needed)

Round 3:
5 man makers
10 – can’t remember, but it was not fun
15 Squat Thrusters
20 Ruck Swings

Arrived at COT with 1 minute remaining so we finished off with 5 more man makers

The intent of this workout was to get Pax to work on their grip strength by carrying heavy stuff with their hands. I have found that carrying items where I need to leverage grip strength is a weak point of mine. My grip tends to give out much quicker than other areas. The only way to get better at something is to continue to work on it.

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